MarketPR
California Governor Gavin Newsom described the state's decision to close beaches during the early months of the pandemic as "insane in hindsight." The remarks, made during an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, were released this month and have drawn sharp criticism from political opponents and some California residents.
Newsom, who was fly fishing in a Montana river during the interview, acknowledged that the state initially treated the crisis as a "Purell-based crisis," focusing on hand sanitizer shortages and price gouging rather than the virus itself.
He identified the beach closures as one of several decisions he regrets, alongside keeping the state's largest public school systems closed longer than necessary.
The clip generated a significant social media response, with critics arguing that the logic of the closures was flawed from the start.
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